Listen to “Fifty Ways To Leave” by Fred Smith   When I began writing this blog almost eight years ago, John Kelly was my editor. He told me, “Don’t worry about being relevant or even timely. That is what op-ed columnists and pundits do. Write about what you are thinking. People can choose to read it or not but what you are thinking is the most important thing for you to write.” That has proved to be good advice and has kept me – for the most part – off the side road of relevance. Now, even though I know it will not be on the front burner for many…

Listen to “I Stand Relieved” By Fred Smith   Almost ten years ago, the Board of The Gathering and I started thinking about succession. Clearly, we did not consider it an emergency or urgent matter but did want to be prepared and not surprised by the inevitable transition of leadership to the one who would assume the helm. It is especially important and often difficult to make that move from a founder to the next generation. However, I was determined not to be that founder we all read about who could not turn loose and in one way or another made it impossible for the next leader to succeed or,…

Listen to “Crossing The Line” by Fred Smith   One of the most pronounced trends in the non-profit world in the last ten years has been the number of men and women in business careers making a transition to the non-profit world. Books like Bob Buford’s “Half-Time” both launched and responded to a wave of men and women who wanted to move “from success to significance.” For many who had spent a good part of their lives and careers intensely focused on financial returns, advancement, awards, and promotions, the world of non-profits appeared to be the best place to make a difference. Having accumulated enough to make the move possible…

Listen to “The Passing Of The Hero” by Fred Smith   Oswald Chambers wrote “Our soul’s history with God is frequently the history of the passing of the hero. It is not wrong for you to depend on your “Elijah” for as long as God gives him to you. But remember that the time will come when he must leave and will no longer be your guide and your leader because God does not intend for him to stay.” When I read last week that Eugene Peterson had entered hospice care I felt bereft. It was not mourning although I know that will come soon. It was being left without…

Listen to “All Things In Common” By Fred Smith   I posted an article on the shrinking of the middle class as an increasing number of people are falling into the category of economically at risk. “Squeezed by rising living costs a record number of Americans – nearly 1 in 2 – have fallen into poverty or are scraping by on earnings that classify them as low income.” While not saying much about the article, I did say, “Is it un-Christian of me to doubt these numbers?” A Facebook friend responded with a private message to voice his disagreement with my skepticism. Out of that has come an interesting exchange…

Listen to “Double Fault” by Fred Smith   Nicky Gumbel, the Rector of Holy Trinity Brompton in London says, “Movements grow from the intersection of a personal story and circumstances.” It’s true, isn’t it? Movements cannot be explained any other way. They do not begin without an extraordinary individual, but that person must come at just the right time and under the right set of circumstances making change possible. It’s like an earthquake. Some strike with little effect and others, like the one in Indonesia last week, not only destroy a city but the tsunami and aftershock kill and displace thousands far away. There are also personal earthquakes. For some,…

Listen to “What Is In Your Hand?” by Fred Smith   Since childhood, I have read the story of Moses at the burning bush and his reluctance in returning to Egypt and bringing the people of Israel out of slavery and into the Promised Land. “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”   Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”   “A staff,” he replied.  The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.”  Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the Lord said to…

Listen to “Monks and Money” by Fred Smith   One of my treasures is a framed picture of Peter Drucker, Bob Buford, Tom Luce and myself outside Peter’s house in Estes Park in the early 1990’s. Underneath it, Bob wrote, “The Beginning of the Social Entrepreneur Network.” It was an idea we had been working on for several years and one that was close to Peter’s heart as it combined two of his basic concepts – the value of the entrepreneur as a creative force and the social responsibility that entailed. I’ve been thinking about this recently because, like the word philanthropy, the phrase “social entrepreneur” has morphed over the…

Listen to “Grand Central” by Fred Smith   Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world… W.B. Yeats “The Second Coming” is one of the most quoted poems in history for at any moment enough people feel things are truly falling apart and the center cannot hold. But, ironically, centers falling apart is the very thing that keeps history moving forward. If the center were to hold forever everything would be stagnant and unchanging. It is, in many ways, the failure of the center to be permanent that makes all progress possible. Mere anarchy is not the only option. I know Yeats is describing…

Listen to “All That Is Hidden” by Fred Smith   “The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either — but right through every human heart.” Alexander Solzhenitsyn Over the years, I have returned to read the remarks of Alexander Solzhenitsyn given at Harvard University in 1978 and published later as “A World Split Apart” in which he plays the prophet by his indictment of the corruption of the West through a combination of the seduction of luxury, extreme individualism and the loss of courage. For my generation, Solzhenitsyn became a hero for an era that had seen the dethroning of many…